Vertu Motors will 'mature' with £1bn sales

Nov 10 2010 by Andrew Hebden, The Journal

BULLISH car retailer Vertu Motors expects to see sales top £1bn this year as it continues to defy challenging market conditions.

Chief executive Robert Forrester told The Journal the Gateshead-based company – which was only formed four years ago – was now reaching a “degree of maturity”.

And while he admitted sales had been affected by the end of the Government’s scrappage scheme, he insisted there was “plenty of pent-up profit” in the firm, which is now Britain’s eighth-biggest car dealer.

Last month, the AIM-listed company reported better-than-expected sales of £511m in the six months to the end of August, with pre-tax profits almost doubling to £4.89m. It will pay its first dividend to shareholders in January.

And, even though the scrappage scheme ended in March, Mr Forrester is confident Vertu – which recently moved into a new headquarters in Team Valley – will break the £1bn figure when it reports its full-year results.

The former Reg Vardy director said: “We are coming into a degree of maturity, having just opened a head office for the first time, but we are still quite young and have a lot to do.”